Detroit

Techstars Mobility has partnered with the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) for the second year in a row to bring over 50 global startups to Detroit in January 2018 to showcase their innovative mobility technologies as part of AutoMobili-D, a dedicated startup expo. This partnership is part of Techstars Mobility’s ongoing mission to connect the automotive and startup worlds by breaking down silos and forming partnerships.

Due to the success of last year’s AutoMobili-D expo, and Detroit’s continuous transformation, we were able to increase the amount of startups in attendance.

Last year, we had startups travel to Detroit for this event from across North America, as well as Dubai, London and Portugal. This year we will have an even greater international presence, with startups coming from 11 different countries. Out of the 57 participating startups, 19 are Techstars alumni.

This year’s showcase will also represent a wider-range of technologies, including:

Autonomous

Connected Car

Electrification

Fleet Management

Hardware / Sensors

Logistics

Manufacturing

Mapping / Journey Planning / Multi-Modal

Personal Mobility / Last Mile Vehicles

Security

Services / On-demand / Ride Sharing

Smart City and Infrastructure

Applications for Techstars Mobility 2018 program will be opening January 8th. Startups can apply here.

I finished my thirdTechstars Mobility Acceleratorprogram this month. It was an incredible experience, and I’m grateful toLisa Seymour,my colleague and partner in running this program, for the terrific associates and volunteers that joined us this year, and of course, the incredible founders that came from all around the world to Detroit for 13 weeks.

Since June 2015, we’ve been super busy. We’ve invested in 33 startups from six different countries — only two came from Michigan. Of these startups, 21 have founders with diverse backgrounds. As a portfolio, they have gone on to raise $45M and are valued at $200M, with one exit (Hagerty acquired Classics&Exotics from our 2015 program). I expect these numbers to go up quite a bit as we head into 2018.

On Oct 18, 2017, our third program wrapped up with a multi-event demo day. Over the course of the day, we hosted over 1200+ individuals from 113+ different automotive OEMs, suppliers, transportation companies, and leading mobility venture capital funds. Our 2017 Techstars Mobility demo day was the largest single-day event focused on mobility startups in the world. This was also the third year we’ve had over 1000+ individuals at our demo day, continuing its recognition as the largest single-day startup event in Michigan.

Fathom(Grand Rapids, MI) — Watch their demo day pitch here
Fathom is modernizing and simplifying the recreational rental industry starting with its flagship product, the Fathom One, an underwater drone built for adventure.

Gridwise(Pittsburgh, PA) — Watch their demo day pitch here
Gridwise is a mobile platform for rideshare drivers which increases their earnings 39% by leveraging data analytics and community to help them better understand when and where to drive.

Forcing Serendipity by Connecting Amazing People Together

During the 2017 Techstars Mobility Accelerator program, over 2,500 meetings were scheduled between the 11 startups and hundreds of mentors representing OEMs, suppliers, transportation companies, and leading mobility venture capital funds.

I like to call this “forced serendipity” — when you pair up a bunch of amazingly smart people, the collisions of ideas and momentum of network lead to incredible results.

Ultimately that is the secret to why this program works so well. Through these encounters, founders received a lot of different viewpoints. Data gathered from these meetings is distilled down into wisdom that the founders use to grow their business, and the results always amaze me.

Thank you to all the great mentors that have supported the last three programs. And an extra special thank you to these 32 mentors as rated “most helpful” by the founders that have gone through Techstars Mobility.

The four new partners join existing partners Ford, Verizon, Dana, Honda, Munich Re, and Michelin. Together, these 10 corporate partners are helping mobility entrepreneurs from around the world succeed in building businesses transforming the future of transportation and mobility. Over the last 18 months, we have invested in 22 companies from around the world, including the United States, Canada, and Chile. Those companies have raised over $20M and are valued at $100M. On July 17th, we’ll be announcing our third class with companies coming from Tel Avi, Munich, Dubai, Vancouver and across the United States.

As we go into our third program, we have a proven model of combining entrepreneurs with corporations and capital to drive success and grow the local Detroit community in the process. Mighty AI is transforming the future of AI, offering Training Data as a Service for autonomous driving. Having raised nearly $30M from investors, including Foundry Group, Intel Capital, and others, Mighty AI sees the importance of being tied into the Detroit entrepreneurial community. Not only will they work closely with customers across Michigan, they will also actively mentor the incoming 2017 class. Mighty AI joins Oblong and Mapbox who both opened offices in Detroit out of the Techstars Mobility Accelerator office.

According to the Michigan Venture Capital Association 2017 Research Report, the are 141 active venture-backed startups in Michigan, nearly 50% increase in the last five years. And since Michigan has the highest research spending-to-venture capital investment ratio in the country, Michigan is the ideal place to grow startups in mobility. In fact, Lunar and SPLT, part of the 2015 class of Techstars Mobility, both relocated to Detroit from NYC.

As we look to the next five years, I’m excited that our program is operating at the intersection of Detroit’s two biggest strengths: its automotive dominance and entrepreneurial resurgence. Our next celebration for the growing community will be our 2-day Demo Day on Oct 18 and 19. To join the fun, sign up here.

Save the date, Oct 18th and 19th in downtown Detroit: a 2-day event focused on startups & innovation driving the future of mobility.

The largest single-day startup & innovation event in Michigan, Techstars Mobility Demo Day will be coming back for its 3rd year on Oct 18, 2017. The event will take place at the Detroit Film Theatre, located inside of the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum. The 2017 class of startups from around the world will take the stage in front of 1000+ investors, automotive & transportation industry professionals, community members, and family and friends.

In 2017, we are partnering with Autoblog’s UPSHIFT conference to form a 2-day event focused on innovation that is driving the future of mobility, automotive, and transportation. This will be the largest event in Michigan focused on startups & innovation in the automotive and transportation industry. This will be the second year for Autoblog’s UPSHIFT, which gathers innovators and thought leaders from Detroit, Silicon Valley and around the world for a day of presentations, panels, tech demos and networking.

The past 2 years, our Techstars Mobility 2015 and 2016 demo days have attracted over a 1000 individuals from all around the world to come to Detroit and see these startups changing the future of transportation. You can watch our full 2016 demo day or our recap of our 2015 demo day.

Techstars Mobility is the first North American mentorship-driven startup accelerator program to focus on mobility startups and technologies. We invest globally in startups building technologies and innovative business models that transform how people and goods move across all modes of transportation (including pedestrian). We invest $120,000 in 10-12 startups each year, bringing them to Detroit for 90-days to work hands-on with them to accelerate their company. In the last 18 months, we have invested in 22 startups that have raised $20M and are valued at over $100M. These startups have come from all around the world including Tel Avi, Dubai, Germany, Chile, Canada, and across the United States. The 2017 Techstars Mobility class will be announced at the end of July.